Aligning bracket for accordion door



June 24-, 1958 p, NELSON 2,839,776

ALIGNING BRACKET FOR ACCORDION DOOR Filed Jan. 14, 1957 AZ E jig] W A3 I A g 20 wiiz' mxgwh INVENTOR. PAUL M NELSON v TTORNEYS n ed Sm, P t h T 2,839,776 l v ALIGNING BRACKET FOR ACCORDION noon Paul H. Nelson, Plainville, Conn., assignor to The Stanley Works, New Britain, Conn.,-a corporation of Connecticut. I

Application January 1957, Serial No. 3 Claims. (Cl. 161) This invention relates to folding doors and more particularly to a novel and improved means for aligning the lower edge of the end panel of such av door of the type wherein the-lower edge of the door. is unguided.

.It is the object of this invention to provide a novel and improved means for aligning the lower free ,edge

h 2,839,776 Patented June 24,1955;

. V 2 doors to be displaced out of alignment ,withthe' 'door opening when the door is in the-closed position of Fig, 1. In order to prevent such misalignment of the doors and door opening, a pair of aligning brackets .18 and 2 0 are respectively mounted on thefaces of the adjoining end panels of the doors; Inasmuch as the brackets are identical in structure, in the interest of brevity only In the preferred embodiment, the, arm 26 is substantially shorter than the arm 24 so as not to unduly interof the end panel of a wooden folding door with the door opening as the door is being closed so as to correct any misalignment of the door and door opening due to warping of the door; and which will maintain the lower free edge of the end panel in alignment with the door opening when the doo'r'is closed.

Other objects will; beinpart obvious, and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter. The invention accordingly consists in 'the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawings: .j I Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a pair of folding doors mounted in a door opening with. a pair of Ealigning 1 brackets constructed in accordance with the invention mounted respectively on the end panels of the doors;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view substantially on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the aligning brackets; and i 'Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view of the doors of Fig. 1 illustrating the operation of the L aligning brackets.

While the aligning brackets which form the subject of this invention have been shown in the drawing respectively mounted on the adjoining end panels of a pair of foldingdoors, it will be apparent from the subsequent description that the brackets are equally useful w I, in aligning the end panel of a single door with the side 15 is mounted adjacent the outer end of the top of the. end panels 11 and is engaged by a guidetrack 16 mounted at the top of the door opening and in alignment therewith. As can be seen, no guide track and guide arrangement is provided for the bottom of the door inasmuch as it is not desired to provide any obstruction along the floor which could cause a person to trip while passing through the door opening.

As is evident, warping of the wooden panels of the door may undesirably cause the lower free edge of the fere with the full opening of the end panels '11;.in asmuch as when the door is fully opened the arm 26 ;will engage the face of the panel 10. A pair of elongated apertures 28 are provided on the base for the mounting of the bracket on a panel and to permit adjustmentfof the bracket relative to the panel. In the specific em bodiment the bracket is fabricated from a single piece of sheet metal providing an economical and easily fabricated structure.

In use, the brackets are mounted on the faces of the end panels, as shown, with one bracket inverted relative to the other. The doors arethen closed with the bottoms thereof aligned with the door openings; and with the doors so aligned the brackets are adjusted relative to each other and to the door to bring the outwardly extending arm '24 of each bracket intofirmlapping engagement with the inwardlyv extending arm 26. of the other bracket, as most clearly shown inFig. 2,to exert an endwise force on the doors.- With the brackets engaged, as'described, any warpage of either of the end panels 11 tending to displace the panel relative to the adjoining end panels and the door opening will be prevented; for example, displacement of the righthand panel 11, as viewed in Fig. 2, in a clockwise direction will be prevented by the engagement of the arm 24 of the bracket 20 and the arm 26 of the bracket 18. Further, if both of the end panels 11 are warped so that the bottoms of both panels tend to be displaced out of alignment with the door opening, the firm engagement of the several arms of the brackets will maintain the doors in alignment with the door opening. I

With the brackets adjusted, as described, during a subsequent closing of the door, the end panels will be brought back into the aligned position of Fig. 2 by engagernent of the brackets 18 and 20. As shown in Fig.

4 with one of the doors closed and in alignment with the door opening, and with the end panel of the other door partly open and having its bottom edge warped out of alignment with the door opening, full closing movement of the warped end panel will result in the inwardly extending arm 26 of the bracket 20, being slidably engaged by the outwardly extending arm 24 of the bracket 18 to cam the lower edge of the warped panel into alignment with the door opening as the brackets are brought into the lapping engagement shown in Fig. 2. As should be apparent, if both end panels are warped out of alignment with the door opening, the outwardly extending arm 24 of each bracket may slidably engage the inwardly I extending arm 26 of the other bracket to cam both end panels into alignment with the door opening during the final closing movement of the door.

The angles at which the arms of the bracket extend relative to thebase should be approximately equal and should be small enough toprovide proper retention of essence.

the doors are closed and further should be large enough correction is'increased. In the practice of the invention, it has been found that with. the: arms extending at an angle of approximately 45 to' the base, the best compromise' in' warpa'ge" correction and holding force is realized while theprojectioir of the: arm .24 maybe maintained sufliciently small.

I claim:

l. A pair oficomple'mentary brackets for aligning the lower free'edg'e of an end, panel of a folding door with the side edge ot a door opening, said brackets each comprising-a substantially flat base, a guide arrn extending outwardly from one edge of the'base at an acute angle to the plane of the base, and a second guide arm vertically spaced relative to the first arm and'extending angularly of the firstiarni and inwardly from said one edge at an angleto the. base. corresponding generally to that of the first arm, and means on each base for respectively mounting the. brackets in inverse relation on the face of the panel and on a member forming a side of a door opening whereby when thedoor is'moved' to closed position thesecond arm of one bracket is brought into slid.- ing engagement with thefirst. arm of the. other bracket to cam the lower edge of the panel into aligned position and whereby the several arms will hold said lower edge insuch' aligned position.

2.. Apair of complementary brackets for aligning the lower free edge of an end panel of a folding door with 7 outwardl'y'at an angle of approximately 45 the side edge of a door opening, said brackets each comprising a substantially" fiat base, a flat guide arm extending outwardly from one edge of the base at an acute angle to the plane of the base, and a second flat guide arm vertically spaced relative to the first arm and extending angularly of, the first arm and inwardly from said one edge at an angle to. thefbase corresponding generally to. that of. the first arm, said second arm being substantiallyshorter'than the first arm and means on each base for respectively mounting the brackets in inverse relation on the face of the panel and on a member forming a side of a door opening whereby when the door is moved to closed position the second arm of one bracket is brought into sliding engagement with the first arm of the other bracket to cam the lower edge of thepanel into aligned position and whereby the several arms will hold said lower edge in such aligned position.

3. A pair of complementary brackets for aligning the lower free edge of' an end panelof'a folding door with the side edge of a door opening; said brackets each comprising, a substantially fiat base, a guide arm extending from one edge oftl're base, and asecond guide arm vertically spaced relative to the first armand extending inwardly from said one edge at-approximately a right angle to the. first arm, and means orieach base for respectively mounting the brackets in inverse relation onthe face of the panel and on a member forming a side of a door opening whereby 7 when. the door is moved to closed position thesecond References ited' infthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 592,624 Bente Oct.'26, 1897 6 15,0951 V 'Hoerr' Mar. 13, 1900 

